Greater New Orleans

Medical staff of the Grenoble hospital, in the French Alps, wait at the entrance of the emergency department where former seven-time Formula One champion Michael Schumacher is be treated after he sustained a head injury during a ski accident in Meribel, France Sunday, Dec. 29, 2013. The French Mountain Gendarmerie said Schumacher was wearing a helmet when he had a hard fall at Meribel and that he sustained a "relatively serious" head injury. He was initially taken to a local hospital and later transferred to a hospital in the city of Grenoble.
(AP Photo/Laurent Cipriani)

PARIS -- Seven-time Formula One champion Michael Schumacher was in
critical condition after undergoing brain surgery following a skiing
accident in the French Alps on Sunday, doctors said.

The Grenoble University Hospital Center said the retired driver
arrived at the clinic in a coma and underwent immediate surgery for a
serious head trauma.

It was not clear whether the 44-year-old German was still in a coma
but the hospital statement, which was signed by a neurosurgeon, an
anesthesiologist and Marc Penaud, the hospital's deputy director, said
"he remains in a critical condition."

The retired driver fell while skiing off-piste in Meribel earlier
Sunday and hit his head on a rock, according to a statement from the
resort. Resort managers said he had been wearing a helmet and was
conscious when rescuers first responded to the scene.

Earlier in the day, the Meribel resort said Schumacher had been taken
to Grenoble for tests and authorities said his life was not in danger.

But the situation began to look more serious when the resort said
that orthopedic and trauma surgeon Gerard Saillant had traveled from
Paris to the hospital to examine Schumacher. German news agency dpa said
it was Saillant who operated on Schumacher when he broke his leg during
a crash at the Silverstone race course in 1999.

In an email to The Associated Press, Schumacher's manager Sabine Kehm
said the retired driver was on a private skiing trip and "fell on his
head."

"We ask for understanding that we cannot give running updates on his
condition. He wore a helmet and was not alone," Kehm said. Schumacher's
14-year-old son was skiing with his father when the accident happened,
the resort said.

In addition to the crash at Silverstone, Schumacher was hurt
seriously in a motorcycling accident in February 2009 in Spain when he
suffered neck and spine injuries. He recovered sufficiently from those
injuries to make a comeback in F1.

Schumacher retired in 2006 after winning five straight titles with
Ferrari following two earlier ones with Benetton. He came back to the
sport in 2010 and drove for three seasons for Mercedes without much
success before retiring again last year.